“I’m always down for a love song about a place,” says Steve Varney—better known as Kid Reverie—of his new collaboration with lifelong Carolinian, Chris Williams. Released today as a single from their upcoming album together, “Carolina” is just that. “The story starts on the beach in Wilmington.

Chris Williams and Kid Reverie’s new album began with an inquisitive search for a simple sound. Having heard Steve Varney’s (Kid Reverie) open-back banjo accompanying fellow songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov on a YouTube video, Williams began tracking down something similar for his own personal collection. “That banjo sounded so amazing on one condenser mike, and I wanted to find one like it,” says Williams. After a long search, he landed on Varney’s website.